Issue Brief 11-39
November 16, 2011
Summary 

On October 20, 2011, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) approved a bill to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA; P.L. 89-10) through federal fiscal year (FY) 2016.  Unlike the House’s efforts to reauthorize ESEA in a series of smaller bills, the Senate HELP committee chose to reauthorize ESEA in one large, comprehensive bill. The Senate legislation would consolidate a number of existing programs, create a few new grant programs, and make a variety of formula changes to current K-12 programs.

This Issue Brief provides a brief overview of the major changes and provisions in the Senate’s ESEA reauthorization bill.